CREEK CONNECTIONS
CREEK CONNECTIONS Teacher's Memo To: Creek Connections teachers From: Wendy Kedzierski & Laura Branby Re: April 21st SYMPOSIUM information
April 17, 2017 Good luck with final Symposium Preparations
ARE YOU READY? We look forward to seeing you and your students at Camp Kon-O-Kwee Friday. We are excited about the event and look forward to some spectacular creek research and presentations and fun activities. Below is some useful event day information. WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP Creek Connections will appreciate your assistance in making this event very successful and meaningful for your students. We do ask that you clearly outline your expectations of them prior to attending the event. We welcome everyone to Camp Kon-O-Kwee as our guests and hope to make it an enjoyable, safe, and incident-free experience. Some things you should mention to students PRIOR to attending: This is still considered a school event; so all school rules/policy still apply. Please have students show respect to all teachers, other students, Creek Connections staff, and focus activity facilitators. Please follow instructions from any of these people. Please show respect to the Camp Kon-O-Kwee facilities (no damage, no theft, no trespassing in unauthorized areas, no smoking, etc.) Please remain in the event locations. Students should not be allowed to wander around Camp on their own. Teachers may elect to take the entire class around the Camp prior to 9:00am or after 1:15pm. Students are expected to attend all parts of the Symposium. Students are not permitted to skip activities or dismiss themselves early, unless directed to do so by a teacher. Your class should not abandon their display. Students should always be stationed at their displays in shifts in order to answer questions about their research. We would like to split all the school groups in ½ for the oral presentations sessions to help with this. Students should make the most of this educational day as much as possible. SCHEDULES ARE POSTED The overall schedule is posted on our website for you to review. There will be two sessions of student oral presentations. We would like you to split your group into 2 equal sized smaller groups to attend each session. If you do not have another teacher with you or cannot do this – please let Laura and Wendy know. Over
FOCUS GROUP ACTIVITY TICKETS Focus group activities your students may pick from are attached to this email. The nature of the activity dictates the maximum number and age of participants. We will provide each school with "tickets" to a variety of activities, hopefully providing enough variety to give students options that interest them. Teachers should determine who will go to which activity in advance of the Symposium using whatever method you want. We will give you the tickets in your registration packet the morning of the symposium. Prior to the focus group activities time, you should provide the students with the tickets. BRING THE TICKETS TO THE FOCUS GROUP. Students need the ticket to get into the activity. Our goal is to mix students from different schools within each activity. It is our hope that after the symposium, students can share and compare with each other what they learned as participants in the different activities. Please remind students assigned to OUTSIDE activities to dress for the weather and to wear shoes and clothes that they don’t mind getting a bit muddy. Activities are rain or shine. Please note that you and any other chaperoning teachers have been assigned to the specific focus group activity below. It is critical that you and the other adults with your class attend the activity indicated to ensure adequate supervision of students at all times. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact Laura or Wendy. See email for your assignments. LUNCH Remember, lunch is provided for you, your student and other guests. YMCA Camp Kon-OKwee is now a nut-free facility. FOCUS GROUP TICKETS ARE ALSO LUNCH TICKETS – students should hang on to their focus group ticket to turn in for a lunch. DISPLAY QUESTION SHEETS Just like last year, we will have question sheets available for your students to fill out as they visit other school research displays. The use of these is OPTIONAL by teachers. If you feel they would help facilitate the learning process and allow your students to obtain more information from displays, environmental organizations, and other school students – then we hope you use them. These worksheets will be available at registration. The worksheet is also posted on our symposium webpage for you to review. There is no need for you to photocopy the sheet—we will have copies for you at the event. OTHER SYMPOSIUM NOTES: Information pertaining to the Symposium can be found on our website. Do not hesitate to contact us with questions about the Symposium (Wendy 814-332-5351; Laura 724-452-8257). See you soon!!!
April 17, 2017 Good luck with final Symposium Preparations
ARE YOU READY? We look forward to seeing you and your students at Camp Kon-O-Kwee Friday. We are excited about the event and look forward to some spectacular creek research and presentations and fun activities. Below is some useful event day information. WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP Creek Connections will appreciate your assistance in making this event very successful and meaningful for your students. We do ask that you clearly outline your expectations of them prior to attending the event. We welcome everyone to Camp Kon-O-Kwee as our guests and hope to make it an enjoyable, safe, and incident-free experience. Some things you should mention to students PRIOR to attending: This is still considered a school event; so all school rules/policy still apply. Please have students show respect to all teachers, other students, Creek Connections staff, and focus activity facilitators. Please follow instructions from any of these people. Please show respect to the Camp Kon-O-Kwee facilities (no damage, no theft, no trespassing in unauthorized areas, no smoking, etc.) Please remain in the event locations. Students should not be allowed to wander around Camp on their own. Teachers may elect to take the entire class around the Camp prior to 9:00am or after 1:15pm. Students are expected to attend all parts of the Symposium. Students are not permitted to skip activities or dismiss themselves early, unless directed to do so by a teacher. Your class should not abandon their display. Students should always be stationed at their displays in shifts in order to answer questions about their research. We would like to split all the school groups in ½ for the oral presentations sessions to help with this. Students should make the most of this educational day as much as possible. SCHEDULES ARE POSTED The overall schedule is posted on our website for you to review. There will be two sessions of student oral presentations. We would like you to split your group into 2 equal sized smaller groups to attend each session. If you do not have another teacher with you or cannot do this – please let Laura and Wendy know. Over
FOCUS GROUP ACTIVITY TICKETS Focus group activities your students may pick from are attached to this email. The nature of the activity dictates the maximum number and age of participants. We will provide each school with "tickets" to a variety of activities, hopefully providing enough variety to give students options that interest them. Teachers should determine who will go to which activity in advance of the Symposium using whatever method you want. We will give you the tickets in your registration packet the morning of the symposium. Prior to the focus group activities time, you should provide the students with the tickets. BRING THE TICKETS TO THE FOCUS GROUP. Students need the ticket to get into the activity. Our goal is to mix students from different schools within each activity. It is our hope that after the symposium, students can share and compare with each other what they learned as participants in the different activities. Please remind students assigned to OUTSIDE activities to dress for the weather and to wear shoes and clothes that they don’t mind getting a bit muddy. Activities are rain or shine. Please note that you and any other chaperoning teachers have been assigned to the specific focus group activity below. It is critical that you and the other adults with your class attend the activity indicated to ensure adequate supervision of students at all times. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact Laura or Wendy. See email for your assignments. LUNCH Remember, lunch is provided for you, your student and other guests. YMCA Camp Kon-OKwee is now a nut-free facility. FOCUS GROUP TICKETS ARE ALSO LUNCH TICKETS – students should hang on to their focus group ticket to turn in for a lunch. DISPLAY QUESTION SHEETS Just like last year, we will have question sheets available for your students to fill out as they visit other school research displays. The use of these is OPTIONAL by teachers. If you feel they would help facilitate the learning process and allow your students to obtain more information from displays, environmental organizations, and other school students – then we hope you use them. These worksheets will be available at registration. The worksheet is also posted on our symposium webpage for you to review. There is no need for you to photocopy the sheet—we will have copies for you at the event. OTHER SYMPOSIUM NOTES: Information pertaining to the Symposium can be found on our website. Do not hesitate to contact us with questions about the Symposium (Wendy 814-332-5351; Laura 724-452-8257). See you soon!!!
